The Transmission of a Religious Heritage to Younger Members of Small Ethnic Communities in a Pluralist Society: The Perceptions of Young Copts

1st Stage: The design of the questionnaire was informed by the literature (for instance, Harris & Moran 1998, Hay and Nye 1998) and the findings of a previous research project which investigated the perceptions of middle school students in Catholic schools of their religiosity and spirituality (Engebretson, de Souza & Salpietro, 2001). From this, a relational dimension of spirituality was identified which was relationship to self, to others, to the world and to God or a Divine presence. The questionnaire was divided into two sections. The first focused on the background of the participant in relation to gender, family, and cultural and religious practices. The second drew on the relational dimension of spirituality that had been identified from the literature, and items were constructed that focused on the following four aspects: - Mystery of the existence of God or a Supreme Being – the focus was on a sense of a transcendent dimension in life, a sense that each person has a reason for being, prayer. - Inner lives and sense of self – items related to an awareness of one’s own identity, the need for quiet, reflective times, and the act of creating as an expression of the inner spirit. - Others and the world –items included aspects of values and justice, relationships and influences. - Influence of a religious tradition on spirituality – items related to the role of family and individual religious practice, links to Church, priests and other members of the hierarchy. 109 students from Years 6, 9 and 11. These comprised the total number of students from each of these Year levels. Location: Two Coptic schools in Melbourne, Victoria Quantitative – Questionnaires 2nd Stage Questions focused on: - participants’ involvement in religious activities associated with their tradition; - perceptions of themselves as belonging to the Coptic community – that is, their sense of identity; - experiences of their lives as active members within their faith tradition in a pluralistic, secular society; - perceptions of how other young people from outside their community may have viewed them. Young Coptic adults aged between 24 – 32. Location:Coptic Centre, Donvale, Victoria Qualitative – Focus Group Interviews Transcripts of interview recordings Funded by: Cardinal Clancy Centre for Research, ACU

第一阶段：问卷设计参考了相关文献（例如Harris & Moran 1998、Hay和Nye 1998）及先前一项研究的结果——该研究调查了天主教学校中学生对自身宗教性与灵性的认知（Engebretson, de Souza & Salpietro, 2001）。据此，研究识别出灵性的关系维度，包括与自我、他人、世界及上帝或神圣存在的关系。问卷分为两部分：第一部分聚焦参与者的背景信息，涵盖性别、家庭、文化及宗教实践；第二部分基于文献中确定的灵性关系维度构建问题，涉及以下四个方面：
- 上帝或至高存在的神秘性——关注生命中的超越维度、个体存在的意义及祈祷行为；
- 内在生活与自我意识——涉及自身身份认知、对安静反思时光的需求，以及创造作为内在精神表达的行为；
- 他人与世界——包括价值观与正义、人际关系及影响因素；
- 宗教传统对灵性的影响——涉及家庭与个人宗教实践的作用，以及与教会、神父及其他层级成员的联系。
参与者为6、9、11年级的109名学生（覆盖各年级全部学生），研究地点为维多利亚州墨尔本的两所科普特学校，研究类型为定量研究——问卷。

第二阶段：问题聚焦于以下内容：
- 参与者参与其宗教传统相关活动的情况；
- 作为科普特社区成员的身份认知；
- 在多元世俗社会中作为信仰传统活跃成员的生活经历；
- 对社区外其他年轻人如何看待他们的认知。
参与者为24-32岁的科普特青年成人，研究地点为维多利亚州Donvale的科普特中心，研究类型为定性研究——焦点小组访谈，同时包含访谈录音转录本。
资助方：ACU的Cardinal Clancy研究中心